[stantley]

You can also get Belarc Advisor, run it and it will give you a detailed report on all the software you have installed on the system. It will also show the registration keys.

For example, I have Nero and when I reinstall the program I have to enter the registration key to activate the program.

If you've never done a reinstall before it can be a bit scary, but once you've done one you'll be surprised how easy it really is. That I link I gave you gives very detailed instructions, so let me know if you have any questions after you read through it.

[boo5790]

ok, thanks and i will get back to you after i have finished backing up and reading the link you gave me. i will print out the belarc info

[boo5790]

I dont know how long i have had this problem without knowing it. is this a problem that an erunt backup would repair if i had a backup for 2 or 3 months ago? or is this something that only a reinstall can fix. just a thought.

[stantley]

No, an Erunt backup of 2 or 3 months ago would just make things worse. You'll probably end up saving time by doing a reinstall rather then trying to fix IE8 and SP3.

[boo5790]

ok thanks.I'im learning as i go thanks to the people like you who donate your patience and time to help people like me. i just wanted to ask you this, in the instructions in the dell link you posted under step 4 for xp, item 4 the partition screen is displayed, i assume that i select the pc restore partition 2.7 to 4.75 gb seeing as it says to select the largest partition. And also in step 5 i select the Format the partition using the ntfs file system (Quick)

[stantley]

No, the partition you want to format is the C: drive. Since you have an 80GB drive and the restore partition is about 4GB the partition you want to reformat should be about 70GB.

Go to Start > Run and type in diskmgmt.msc and post a screen shot.

The instructions say "Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick)" and you can do it like that, but it doesn't take that much longer to do the regular format so that's the one I usually use.

[boo5790]

ok, sorry to be a pain but could you tell me how to post a screen shot please

[stantley]

Open the screen you want (in this case Disk Management), hit Alt-Print Screen, open Paint, hit Ctrl-V, save the file as a .jpg file. Then in your next post click on Manage Attachments, where it says "Upload file from your Computer" click browse, find the .jpg file you saved and click upload.

[boo5790]

Here is the screenshot i hope. it took me awhile to figure out the jpg thing. (DUH)

[stantley]

Ok, well that's easy then, you only have one partition, C: so that's the one to format.

[boo5790]

Hi stantley, i havent done the reinstall yet as i had to go away for a few days . do you think a xp repair with the cd would help any? i am only asking because i am nervous about doing a reinstall for the first time. Also, if i end up going for it and reinstalling, does it matter if i have service pack 3 installed and my cd is service pack 2?

[boo5790]

Hi stantley, i reformatted and reinstalled windows xp today and you were right, it was scary for the first time but it was also easy as you said. everything went good including the driver installations.Everything seems to be working good so i musta done it right. I just wanted to say thanks alot for pointing me in the right direction and for the advice. I learned something new. thanks again

[stantley]

You're welcome. I'm glad it went well for you. I bet your system runs faster now.

Now you have the peace of mind knowing that even if you have major software problems with your PC, you can always reinstall Windows.

[boo5790]

Yes, the system is just like new again. Its nice knowing that if one has major problems that the reinstall is just a few clicks and a small amount of time to solve. thanks again.